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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001 05-15 HCM MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE HOUSING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND STATE OF NIINNESOTA REGULAR SESSION MAY 15, 2001 CONFERENCE ROOM B CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center Housing Commission was called to order by Chairperson Erickson at 7 p.m. ROLL CALL Chairperson Ernie Erickson, Commissioners Shawn Taylor, Dennis Snook, Lloyd Deuel, Kathleen Carmody, and Mark Yelich. Also present were Council Liaison Ed Nelson, and Community Development Specialist Tom Bublitz. Commissioners Michael VonDeLinde and Elizabeth Davis were absent and excused from the meeting. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chairperson Erickson stated that he would like to put the Commission summer schedule on for discussion under other business. There was a motion by Commissioner Deuel and seconded by Commissioner Taylor to approve the agenda as amended. The motion passed. APPROVAL OF MINUTES April 24, 2001 It was noted that the April 24`� minutes will be submitted for approval at the next Housing Commission meeting. CHAIRPERSONS REPORT Chairperson Erickson noted that Commissioner Martin Frawley would be resigning from the Commission since he is leaving the community and establishing residence in another city. He noted the City has already begun to advertise for the vacancy. CONTINUED REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING CITY ORDINANCES AND CITY COUNCIL DIRECTIVE Chairperson Erickson noted that last month the Commission wanted more tune to look at the issues relative to the City Council directive regarding the recommended changes to City Ordinances and the issue of RV parking. Chairperson Erickson began the discussion by reviewing the existing ordinance relative to driveway width and the Commission's recommendations. He noted that there are engineering specifications for the width of curb cuts and the Commission recommended a 12 foot maximum for a second curb cut. OS-15-01 -1- i Commissioner Yelich stated he believes the Comniission needs more information on runoff from paved drives from engineering. The Commission discussed the issue of RV parking and other accessory parking and discussed the existing ordinance with regard to parking of accessory vehicles. Commissioner Deuel pointed out that St. Louis Park and Hopkins have very strict ordinances regarding RV parking and that a case could be made that these ordinances help maintain properry values in those communities. Commissioner Carmody expressed a concem that requiring an ordinance revision for RV parking would be a difficult ordinance to pass. Councilmember Nelson discussed the issue of screening relative to RV and other accessory vehicle parking. He suggested this might be a way of approaching the issue rather than strictly from a parking standpoint. Chairperson inquired of commission members whether they would like to address this issue in terms of screening. Commissioner Yelich stated that any ordinance revision the Commission recommends should be done in a positive way so that it can improve property values. Commissioner Carmody stated that, essentially, people will look at the ordinance in ter�ns of how it affects them and those that have vehicles affected will react differently than those who do not. Chairperson Erickson requested the Community Development Specialist to pull together additional information from other cities with regard to requirements for RV parking. Chairperson Erickson suggested that the Commission review its recommendations starting with the Commission's recommendation on driveways. After a brief discussion, the Commission recommended that its recommendations on paving driveways should stand as is. The commission members then discussed the matter of limiting the number of collector cars. Chairperson Erickson noted the Commission's recommendation for limiting the number of collector cars stands at five maximum. He noted that relatively few other cities regulate the keeping of collector cars and noted that Coon Rapids does limit their residents to two collector cars per property. Commissioner Yelich suggested that the Commission's recommendation be reduced from fve to two collector cars. After a brief discussion, there was a. commission consensus to reduce the number of collector cars from five to two in its recommendation to the City Council. Chairperson Erickson next addressed the issue of the Commission's recommendations relative to fencing. The Commission discussed their recommendations regarding fencing and it was suggested that the language on materials pemutted for fencing should be more specific. Commissioner Erickson then addressed the issue of the Commission's recommendations on yard cover. Commission members felt the existing ordinance was adequate with regard to yard cover. OS-15-01 -2- Commissioner Yelich addressed the issue of parking on grass and noted that he see boats, trailers etc. behind houses and on the side of houses and questioned whether the Ciry could require that no motorized vehicles be parked on grass areas. He added that if people can afford recreational vehicles then they should be able to afford proper storage of those vehicles as part of the cost of ownership. He suggested that the Commission look at prohibiting motorized vehicles parking on grass including motorized vehicles that are stored on a trailer. He explained this would include parking in the back, front or rear yazds. He explained this prohibition would not necessitate a hard surface but that it must be an improved surface and not on grass. Chairperson Erickson suggested that the availability and cost of storage should be researched. Also, he added it would be helpful to find out how many people actually own recreational vehicles in the city of Brooklyn Center. The Commission concluded its discussion of its recommendations and the Community Development Specialist was to come back to the Commission with specific language on the ordinance recommendations for the next meeting. OTHER BUSINESS The Commission discussed the Smart Growth meetings coming up on June 14th in Constitution Hall and July 11�`. Councilmember Nelson encouraged commission members to attend these meetings. The Community Development Specialist indicated he would try and send notices of these upcoming meetings to commission members. The commission members briefly discussed future tours of the City. Commissioner Deuel noted the tour of apartments was very helpful to him in understanding the apartments place in the city. Commission members also discussed a tour to look at code enforcement items in the city. Commissioner Deuel suggested that the Commission adjourn for the swnmer and encouraged commission members to attend the upcoming Smart Growth events. He also stated he would like to fmd out the current status of Neighborhood Watch groups in the city as to how many there are etc. The Commission agreed to adjourn for the summer and set the next meeting for the third Tuesday in September. ADJOURNMENT There was a motion by Commissioner Deuel and seconded by Commissioner Carmody to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed. The Brooklyn Center Housing Conunission adjourned at 8:35 p.m. an OS-15-01 -3-